Hal had never anticipated that his counterparts from other universes would be in such a predicament, or rather, he found it hard to believe that his other selves could be so idealistic.
First and foremost, and most importantly, for the Green Lanterns, Green Lantern energy is their lifeline. Even if the vast majority of them don't have the means to crack the Little Blue People's energy extraction technique, wouldn't they think about how to be as independent as possible?
But it turns out that most of them really do just obediently fly back to headquarters to recharge.
In Hal's view, this is truly unbelievable; it is like the somewhat ludicrous situation he encountered in Mexico—they had food, they had trucks to transport the food, but no fuel.
Oliver led them through dozens of battles over gasoline, finally acquiring what in the American land is the hardest universal currency, the oil needed to power their vehicles.
This is the most critical resource for building a food distribution network; without oil, nothing moves. Food rots in warehouses on one side, while people starve in their homes on the other side.
To Hal, Green Lantern energy could be comparable to cosmic oil, even more comprehensive and important than oil. Yet, after so many years of diligent service in these roles across different universes, they ended up just being gas station attendants.
They naively believe that the hidden boss behind the gas stations really will selflessly pump this oil for free into those trucks carrying food, to save the hungry people.
Hal had no comment on this.
It was no secret that Green Lantern energy wasn't truly used for maintaining peace in the cosmos because Earth wasn't within the protected domain before the appearance of the Earth Green Lanterns. All Green Lanterns know this to some extent.
Yet they still took no measures, not even for self-defense. Hal had to admit, such a level of restraint was indeed noble; aside from being completely useless, it did deserve the label of kindness.
Which only made Hal all the more frustrated.
The oath was not the problem; the problem was that the first to betray the oath was the Creator of the oath, the very purpose behind creating the Green Lantern Corps was impure. Now that they had fooled the fools, how could this bunch miss such a golden opportunity?
Without hearing from any other Green Lanterns, Hal knew that if most of the universes continued like this, Earth would inevitably suffer as sacrifices are always chosen from among the softest, and aren't those Lanterns, who are controlled by the Central Power Battery and lack any means of counteraction, indeed the softest targets?
If his universe could truly stand independent of all others, Hal might not be so charitable, because one can only learn from the experiences of others once.
But the scariest thing was the close connection between the Multiverse, even the possibility of visiting each other through certain methods. Good news rarely travels far, but bad news spreads a thousand miles—a disaster in one universe could likely spread to many others.
By that time, just minding his own business would be useless. If he didn't deal with these walking time bombs, sooner or later they would cause him great harm.
In the moment he understood these issues, Hal felt as if he had developed an anxiety disorder.
It wasn't that he was shirking responsibility or unwilling to use his brain, but in the face of the current situation, who wouldn't go to the Western Heaven to ask for Shiller Buddha's help?
Hal wrote an incredibly long email, which Greed wanted to prescribe medication for after just the first two lines.
No, just as he got Iron Man sorted out, another Green Lantern popped up; how did his steady career as a psychologist run into these two Sleeping Dragon and Rising Phoenix figures?
Greed sighed resignedly as he glanced at Arrogant, who was still gazing into space, and braced himself to finish reading the lengthy email.
There wasn't a lot of useful information in it. Most of it was spent cursing his other selves from different universes and speculating about possible impending disasters.
After cutting out most of the useless chatter, Shiller had more or less figured out what Hal was asking for.
That saying still holds, it's hard for superheroes, who have been upholding their idealism for half a lifetime, to abandon it; Hal didn't have the ability to push everyone into the Mexican fields, so he didn't count on them having an overnight awakening.
However, Hal felt that there were some within the ranks of the Green Lanterns that he could potentially win over; apart from the many Hal Jordans who were a bit naively stupid, there were other old slicks.
After initial contacts, Hal learned that in some universes, Hal Jordan wasn't the first Earth Green Lantern; there were three others who had joined the Green Lantern Justice Team before him.
One of them, a man named Guy Gardner, was personally appointed by the Guardians of the Universe as the leader of the Green Lantern Honor Guard, who seemed to be a formidable agent, but not as steady as that John Stewart, and Kyle Rayner, living up to his Ion Lantern status, seemed somewhat erratic, but Hal felt that, like himself, he was not bound by the Central Power Battery, and he had some secrets that could not be seen through.
Joining the Honor Guard was the highest honor for any Green Lantern, and from these three predecessors who held the title, Hal could see that the highest honor was well-deserved; none of them were mediocre.
Moreover, through close interactions with the Guardians of the Universe, they seemed to have a slightly different view of the Little Blue People, and they were very cautious in their use of Green Lantern Power, making them likely candidates for allies.
Hal had heard their names in his own universe, but these veteran Lanterns mostly resided in danger sectors and wouldn't show up unless there was a disaster threatening the cosmos. Hal hadn't been at the heart of power long, so it was the first time he met them.
And then there was Sinestro, whom Hal didn't really want to mention, causing a huge chaos the moment he showed up.
In one universe, Sinestro was still a Green Lantern, somehow counted among the Earth Green Lanterns, squeezed into their team, leading to them just having a big fight.
It was Alan Scott, Hal's idol, who stepped in to quell the chaos, reinforcing Hal's belief that the old predecessor was worth winning over.
In a short span of time, Hal had pinpointed several teammates who might prove valuable, but as for how to make them understand the gravity of the situation, he still had no clue, and thus had to resort to Shiller for help.
After reading Hal's message, Greed realized something: the superheroes of the DC Universe were incredibly serious.
The Green Lanterns were truly earnest in their roles, receiving Green Lantern Power, wearing their rings, and playing superheroes as if it were a single path with no forks, a journey to follow until the end.
But stepping out of this framework like Hal from the Shiller Universe, one might find that it's themselves who are normal and those addicted to role-playing who are the insane ones.
The energy that bestowed upon them their superhero status is akin to the money granting privileges to the wealthy.
So, an ordinary person would think about how to make money, not work tirelessly beyond their salary's worth for a company, especially one that is neither regulated nor reliable.
Yet the Green Lanterns resemble a group of hardworking laborers slaving away for their boss—the concept that Green Lantern energy might have some sort of brainwashing effect did cross Greed's mind.
That's money! Money within easy reach!!!
If this money truly resided in the national treasury and made significant contributions to the beings of the cosmos, then contemplating its use might warrant some moral struggle.
But in reality, the Guardians of the Universe are just private owners, not like large corporations that can achieve a balance of power and responsibility with mutual oversight, but more akin to small workshops led by whims and prejudices.
Moreover, it's not just their unreliability in actions but their consistently blotchy record; there isn't a single thing they've handled reliably.
Not taking that money would be madness?!
But Greed also clearly understood that Hal was right: awakening these deeply immersed superheroes overnight was impossible.
However, Greed's perspective differed from Hal's. While it would be challenging to incite an instant awakening and collective enmity, it was sometimes unnecessary to have a spiritual awakening to perform meaningful actions. Appealing to emotion and reasoning was one strategy, but Shiller still preferred intimidation and temptation, deceiving and misleading.
He pondered for a moment, then began to tap out line after line in his reply email, occasionally pausing to think before continuing to write. Soon, he had written a lengthy response and sent it off.
Hal sat on the rooftop, looking over the plan that Greed had sent him. To be honest, he wasn't surprised at all because the core of the plan was still about selling Green Lantern energy.
While it was crude and cliché, Hal had to admit it was effective, as too many Green Lanterns in Battleworld were running out of energy—capitalizing on their vulnerability was always the best way to a fortune.
Using his surplus Green Lantern energy to gain the support of other Green Lanterns certainly seemed the best approach, although it resembled coercion in these exceptional circumstances, one couldn't afford to be too scrupulous.
But the main issue with Shiller's plan was that selling energy wasn't just an ethically gray area—Shiller wanted him to poison the energy he sold, then sell the antidote.
At that point, Hal hardly wanted to continue reading, not because he thought the plan wouldn't work but because his moral compass couldn't support reading further.
Greed's plans had always been like this; if one could break through their moral bottom line, they would find high feasibility.
The so-called poisoning, as inconceivable as it sounded, actually had a chance of being executed, because for Green Lanterns, the most potent poison was Yellow Torch Energy.
And Hal happened to control Parallax, which called him Uncle Jordan and loved the Jordan family's secret grilled fish.
Parallax's power came from fear, and its father was currently congregating with countless sources of fear.
Thus, as long as Hal could contact Bruce and his daughter, the poisoning plan had a high feasibility. Even if they were cruel enough, annihilating all the Green Lanterns wasn't out of the question.
Other Green Lanterns or Ion Lanterns might manage to save a person or two, but among all present Green Lanterns, only Hal had enough Green Lantern energy to save everyone, allowing him to easily become the leader of all Green Lanterns.
Once he had the leadership power, Hal would have ways to secure his position, and forming a Multiversal Green Lantern Alliance wouldn't be far-fetched. Even with just a bit of grinding, he was sure to organize a group of Awakeners.
However, annihilating the Green Lanterns for his own power, the last to do so was the most evil traitor of the Green Lantern Corps, Sinestro.
And Hal vaguely felt that if he acted, he would do it better than Sinestro, which might also mean he could gain even greater power than Sinestro.
Hal turned off the chat interface, took a deep breath, and looked out toward the endless desert.
For the peace of the cosmos, he must truly clean up this house.